Picking Your D&D Bard College

So you’ve finally decided to play a bard? Let me be the first to welcome you to my favorite D&D class!

Whether you’re here because you want to be the most persuasive member of your party, or just because someone told you “bards go hard” (me) … you made a great choice; seriously, bards are one of the most versatile classes in the game.

But here’s the thing: not all bards are built the same.

So, lock in because I’m gonna break it all down so you can pick the bard college that matches your energy.

The Core Four Bard Colleges

College of Lore Bard

Lore bards are the “more of everything” subclass: more skill proficiencies, more spells, and the ability to roast enemies sooooo hard.

Cutting words got a huge buff: now you can spend a bardic inspiration die to subtract from an enemy’s roll as a reaction. Also, magical discoveries lets you swap in spells from cleric, druid, or wizard lists as you level up, which is crazy good.

Perfect for Players who want to do a little bit of everything really well, or who love being the go-to for charisma-based ability checks.

College of Glamour Bard (Xanathar’s originally, but now in 2024 PHB)

The deal with glamour bards is they basically have Feywild energy and everyone in a 30-foot radius is mildly obsessed with them … whether they wanted to be or not.

Exciting news for glamour bards: 2024 replaced enthralling performance with beguiling magic, which means you now always have both charm person and mirror image prepared. On top of that, whenever you cast an enchantment or illusion spell, you get a free shot to charm or frighten a target that sees you do it.

Mantle of inspiration also got a buff, so it now grants temp HP equal to twice the number rolled on your bardic inspiration die!

Perfect for Players who want to lean HARD into manipulation and look absolutely untouchable while doing it.

College of Valor Bard

These are warrior-bards who inspire allies through acts of combat, not just performances.

In the 2024 version, the martial training feature allows Valor bards to use a simple or martial weapon as their spellcasting focus, which fixes the “wait, what am I holding?” problem. Valor bards also gained the ability to cast a cantrip in place of one of their extra attacks at level 6, which is just sooooo delightful.

Perfect for Players who want a more martial feel without fully committing to a fighter multiclass situation.

College of Dance Bard (2024 PHB only)

Your art form is dance, baybeeee ... and it turns out that’s a completely terrifying thing to say in a dungeon.

Okay, on the surface this sounds like a meme build, but HEAR ME OUT! College of dance bards are built differently!

You get unarmored defense using your charisma and dexterity modifiers for AC AND you can also land an unarmed strike every time you use a bardic inspiration die, dealing bludgeoning damage equal to the die roll plus your dexterity modifier.

Then at level 6 you get tandem footwork, which gives your entire party an initiative bonus equal to your bardic inspiration roll!

Perfect for Players who want a combat-capable bard that doesn’t sacrifice spellcasting to get there, or anyone who just wants to run around punching things while throwin' that ass in a circle 😂

The Extended Bard Roster (5e 2014 supplemental books)

These colleges came out in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (XGtE), Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (TCoE), and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. They’re not in the 2024 core PHB, but if you ask your DM reeeeeeal nicely, who knows ... they might allow it 😎

College of Eloquence (TCoE) If you roll 9 or lower on a persuasion or deception check, you can treat that roll as a 10 (yeah…), AND through unfailing inspiration (which you can gain at level 6) your bardic inspiration doesn’t get used up if the recipient fails their roll.

College of Swords (XGtE) At level 3, you get fighting style and blade flourishes that let you spend bardic inspiration to deal extra damage or move around the battlefield.

College of Whispers (XGtE) You are the sneaky, sneaky lil' spy-bard. This college makes you able to steal people’s shadows to impersonate them (mantle of whispers, level 6), whispering their deepest secrets back at them, or just straight up frighten the enemy with words of terror (level 3).

College of Creation (TCoE) You’re a Song of Creation bard who manifests objects from nothing (performance of creation, level 3) and animates them (animating performance, level 6)! Also, your bardic inspiration gets special bonus effects depending on how it’s used (extra thunder damage on attack rolls, temp HP on saves, etc.).

College of Spirits (Van Richten’s) You can commune with the dead AND get to roll on a random table to see what kind of spirit tale (tales from beyond, level 3) gets told through you ... the results of which causes an accompanying effect to occur to a creature of your choosing (within 30 ft).

So, which bard college are YOU gonna pick?